1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an imaging apparatus capable of producing a panoramic image and a method of controlling the same.
2. Related Art
An imaging apparatus is a device that captures still images or videos by recording images of people, objects, and landscapes. Recently, development of digital imaging apparatuses, which obtain data from light incident upon an image pickup device, store the data in a storage medium as a file, or display an image on a display unit, has been vigorously carried out.
A digital imaging apparatus includes a digital camera that captures images as a primary function. The digital imaging apparatus may be incorporated into many terminal devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), notebook computers, and personal computers (PCs) in an integrated or separated state as an imaging module including elements required to capture images of the object.
Some examples of digital imaging apparatuses have a function of creating a panoramic image. By use of this function, an image with horizontally elongated fields of view, which cannot be acquired using a wide-angle lens, may be produced.
A method of producing a panoramic image will be briefly described.
During creation of a panoramic image, an imaging apparatus displays a live view of an object to be currently captured on a display unit and additionally displays previously captured images on a portion of the display unit.
A user captures a first image, which is a portion of the entire panoramic image, while watching a live view of the first image displayed on the display unit of the imaging apparatus.
Then, the user pans the imaging apparatus along a shooting direction while watching a live view screen on the display unit of the imaging apparatus and captures a second image next to the first image.
In this case, the user adjusts the shooting direction suitably in the frontward, backward, leftward, and rightward directions such that the first image and the second image have continuity while watching the second image to be captured through the live view screen. Here, continuity indicates that the first image and the second image are continuously and smoothly connected in a resultant panoramic image
As described above, the user captures a current image while watching the current image and previously captured images displayed on the live view screen when the imaging apparatus is rotated to obtain a panoramic image. The user captures the second image to be connected to the first image based upon the user's technique.
Thus, while a panoramic image is created, the user is unable to know the current status of completion for producing a panoramic image and is unable to know an estimated remaining percentage for completion of the task.
In particular, imaging apparatuses have different maximum angles for producing a panoramic image according to characteristics and focal length of the lens. Thus, the user needs to test the maximum angles for producing the panoramic image according to the characteristics and focal length of the lens and to remember test results before capturing images.